Essay on The End of Innocence in Lord of the Flies

The End of Innocence in Lord of the Flies William Golding wrote the novel Lord of the Flies to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature.(Golding) He wanted to show that humans naturally live in savagery and ignorance with little knowledge on how to live together peacefully. To accomplish his premise Golding strands a group of boys on an island who then must set up government in an attempt to survive. The story uses heavy symbolism to compare the life on the island to the entire civilization of the world. Each character on the island represents one aspect of civilized society; those who represent uninhibited man survive and those who represent intellectual or spiritual man die. One of the more†¦show more content†¦Simon is not afraid of the jungle because he does not fear the beast. He knows the real beast cannot be escaped from or fought with spears and rocks: maybe he said hesitantly maybe there is a beast...maybe its only us.(P97) Simon knows that the real beast cannot be ...satiated with sacrifice and dance. The beast is a part of everyone, a part of human nature. (Dickey) Simon wants nothing more than to tell the others but to talk in assembly was a terrible thing to him.(P97) Simon lives in fear, he is afraid that if he tells the others that they will turn against him, he knows his society would not except him and so he remains quiet. Golding makes several references to Simons spirituality; he is comparable to Christ, an often-misunderstood savior. Simons secret place is a sort of holy sanctuary: ... the butterflies danced in the middle their unending dance. He knelt down and the arrow of sun fell on him.(146) Like Christ, Simon is doing the work of God, when the arrow of light falls on him a sign from the heavens is being conveyed. Like Christ, Simon is tempted by evil, in a vision the Lord of the Flies told him: Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! ... You knew didnt you? Im part of you? ... Get back to the others and we will forget the whole thing.(158) Simon however does not give in. When the twins, Sam and EricShow MoreRelated Themes in Lord of the Flies Essay682 Words   |  3 Pages William Goldning’s Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel where literary techniques are utilized to convey the main ideas and themes of the novel. Two important central themes of the novel i ncludes loss of civilization and innocense which tie into the concept of innate human evil. Loss of civilization is simply the transition from civilization to savagery; order to chaos. The concept of loss of innocense is a key concept to innate human evil because childhood innocense is disrupted as the groupRead MoreComparison of Lord of the Flies with Peter Pan1716 Words   |  7 Pages The Boys The books â€Å"Lord of the Flies† by William Golding, and â€Å"Peter Pan† by J.M. Barrie, have similar characteristics that will be compared and contrasted in this paper. â€Å"Lord of the Flies† takes place on a deserted island where about 20 British boys have crashed during World War II. Peter Pan, dissimilarly, tells the tale of a boy who doesn’t want to grow up and lives on the magical island of Neverland with the Lost Boys. Both Lord of the Flies and Peter Pan have common themes, symbolsRead MoreKindness in an Unkind World1228 Words   |  5 PagesBeing a kind-hearted person in a savage world is not an easy thing to do. The savage world will usually get through to the kind person and change them into a monster, but not Simon. 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I will examine pieces of literature that convey the loss of innocence to either a particular person, or a group of people. The first piece of writing I have chosen is, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding. In the middle of a war, a plane carrying a group of schoolboys crashed onto an island. The pilot had been killed, so that left the boys to fendRead MoreLord Of The Flies By William Golding1206 Words   |  5 Pageshead when drastic situations arise. We see this primal characteristic of brutality slowly take hold of the boys on the island until the ‘Lord of the Flies’ has claimed it’s latest victims. Not only Simon and Piggy, but all the boys on the island. Throughout the novel, we see all the boys go from having fun and exhibiting civilized behavior to losing control at the end. â€Å"You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you.† (Golding p.143 lines 24-25). The onset of this novel was introduced as innocent as could beRead MoreThe Lord of the Flies by William Golding1257 Words   |  6 Pages LOTF: Good vs Evil Change is inevitable. In Lord of the Flies, three of the characters represent how the human condition can change. Each character handles situations and conditions differently. Their conflicts challenge their existence and eventually lead to their demise. In Lord of the Flies, during the wage of war between good and evil, the true face of everyone is revealed, whether it be Roger, Simon, or the children as a group. There are a lot of ways that good and evil are representedRead MoreLord Of The Flies : Human Savagery And The Flow Of Power1592 Words   |  7 PagesLord of the Flies is a chilling work about human savagery and the flow of power. Golding uses symbolism, characterization, and description to illustrate the occurrences and the underlying themes in the novel. The work has an ominous but irresistible tone that Golding lays out through his description of the island. Golding makes the island seem sinister and irresistible by writing,† The shore was fledged with palm trees. These stood or leaned or reclined against the light and their green feathers